Shoe heel



F. M. SLOUGH snon HEEL Filed Jan. 6. 1921 YNVENTOR FRANK. M- SLWGK BY Patented Apr. 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,489,019 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. snouerr, or swam, onro, nssrenon T0 LAMARTINE BROOKS FAY, or

ELYRIA, ()HIO. l

sno e HEEL. I

Application filed January 6, 1921. Serial no. 435,336.

To aZZ coil-0m it may con-067%:

Be it known that I, FRANK a citizen of the United States, residing in Elyria, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe Heels, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which'my invention appertains to make and use'the same.

My invention relates to shoe heels and more particularlyto shoe heels such. as the French type of shoe heels, wherein an intermediate portion is of reducedcross sectional area as compared with a much larger attaching portion, and a larger tread por tion.

My invention relates more particularly to such shoe heels as above described but which are so made that the interior is hollow in at least the upper portion, such heels being commonly made or metal, such as aluminum. In such metal shoe heels, it has been common practice to embed inverted attaching nails within the upper concavity contained within the heel shell, and relatively near the attaching margin. thereof so that the points of these nails project upwardly and are adapted to pierce the bottom of a shoe to which the heel is to be attached.

The ends of such nails are then clinched to lock the heel to the shoe. I find that this method of attachment is objectionable for several reasons, one being that nails are easily bent during the process of fastening the heel to the shoe, and are sometimes broken or subsequently broken during the process of straighteningpthe nails. Also, the nails being bent over attheir ends, causes the inner lining of the shoe upon which the foot heel of the wearer rests, to be roughened, so that the shoe is uncomfortable to wear.

An object of'my invention, therefore, is

to provide 'a shoe heel wherein the nails. are driven downwardly through the bottom of the shoe and into the layers of leather which are heldin the upper portion of the shoe heel concavity, and furthermore, to provide a structure wherein such heel attaching nails, when driven into the leather of the shoe,'will be bent over so as to clinch the heel to the shoe. J

7 Another object of my invention is to accomplish the aforesaid object, at the same M. SLoUoH,

time securing the additional object of preventing waste by bending or breaking the nails, and providing a joint between the heel and the shoe which is not attended by a roughening of the interior surface of the shoe.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will be better understood by referring to the accompanying description and drawings, which are a part of this specification.

Referring to the drawings, F'g. 1 shows a plan view of a shoehee embodying my invention.

Fig.2 shows a verticalcross-sectional viewv of the heel of Fig. 1, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. The lower portion of the heel of this figure is shown in elevation.

The bottom of a shoe attached to the said heel is also indicated in this figure for the purpose of indicating the method of attaching the same by nails.

Fig. 3 lshowsa plan view of a filler re.- taining-grid, which I employ in the embodiment of my invention illustrated.

Fig. 4: shows a sectional view of the grid taken on the line a 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a plan view of the heel with the grid removed, so as to expose the inner construction.

Fig. 6 shows a front elevational view of a grid supporting ledge. I

Referring now to all of the figures, in which like parts are denoted by like'refer ence characters, at 2 I show the outer shell of a. shoe heel, such as an aluminum shoe heel, and at 3, 4, and 5, I show a plurality of ledges arranged within the concavity 7 contained within the upper portion of the shoe heel 2 and upon which ledges a pluralityof leather fillers 8 are arranged, a grid 11 being providedfor the top wall of the concavity, ha-ving openings 12 and intervening bars 13, some of which are arranged transversely and others being arranged longitudinally with' respect to the heel. I

The grid is secured across the top opening of the heel after the leather tillers 8 have been placed in position therein, by fitting the grid in place with its peripherally arranged notches 21, disposed to embrace the projections 22 extending inwardly from the outer shell portion 2. The projecting portions 22 are disposed on topoi' the ledges 23 and are of smaller cross-sectional area than the ledges 28, so that the grid 11, when placed within the shell 2, will rest on the.

said ledges.

The grid 11 then may be secured to the ledges 23 in any suitable way, but I prefer to secure it in place by either swaging over the contacting upper surfaces of the members 22 and 21, or by applying a source of heat to these surfaces, together with suitable fiuxiug, so as to make a mechanical weld of these surfaces. Although the form o the grid may vary considerably, I prefer to form it with a row of transverse bars 1% extending down the longitudinal middle or the heel, flanked on either side by aplurality of longitudinal bars 15 arranged on either side oi the row 01": lateral bars.

I pi'et'era-blv form the bars so that those most nearly adjacent the edges of the heel will direct the nails which are driven through the shoe bottom through the openings between such b a-rs, against the side walls oflhe shoe heel which converge downwardly and which will, therefore, bend the nails inwardly to clinch them in position, such a nail'being shown in Fig. 2 at 16.

Other bars may be shaped as indicated in Fig. 2 for the bars 17, 18 or 19, whereby nails driven through the bottom oi the shoe striking the said bars will be deflected at various angles by the said bars, the eli'ect being the clinching of the ends of the nails over so that they will generally converge inwardly, or, at

any rate, will have their ends extend in various directions and will, upon being driven down tightly from the inside of the shoe, clinch over to secure the leather fillers 8 to the bottom of the shoe, the heel being tightly held to the bottom of the shoe by the said nails passing through the grid 11.

It will be seen that some of the difiiculties above noted attending the use of nails having their heads cast in the top of the heel, are not present in the heel of my invention, wherein the nails are downwardly driven through the bottom of the shoe into the heel.

Having thus described a specific embodiment of my invention, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom, but without departing from the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim is: v

1. In combination with a hollow shoe heel shell having a concavity inthe upper portion thereof, of a filler placed in the said con-' cavity, and filler retaining means disposed over the said filler, said retaining means having nail receiving openings disposed in the path of nails'driven downwardly through the bottom of a shoe into the said filler and nail deflecting side walls for the said openings adapted to deflect the ends of the nails from a true vertical course.

2. In combination with a hollow shoe heel shell having a concavity in the upper portion thereof, of a filler placed in the said concavity, and filler retaining means disposed over the said filler, said retaining means having nail receiving openings disposed in the path of nails driven downwardly through the bottom of a shoe into the said filler, one of the said openings being adjacent a downwardly converging wall of the said heel shell and adapted to direct a nail driven through the bottom of a shoe through the said opening against the said wall whereby the end of the nail will be deflected inwardly through the said filler.

3. In combination with a shoe heel, of a hollow shell for the said shoeheel of metallic material, said shell having an upper concavity, downwardly converging walls for the said concavity, a plurality of ledgeson the inner surface of the said heel, said ledges having top surfaces disposed below the upper edges of the said shell, a plurality of leather cuttings placed in the said concavity within the said walls, agrid adapted to be carried on the said ledges and disposed over the said cuttings, said grid periphery and the adjacent walls of the said shell having interlocking portions toprevent lateral displace ment of the'grid on the ledges, said grid having nail'receiving openings, nails adaptedto pass downwardly through the bottom of a shoe to which the heel is attached through the saidopenings and to be clinched into the said leather cuttings to secure the said heel shell to the bottom of the shoe.

4. In combination with a shoe heel, of a hollow shell for the said shoe heel having an upper concavity, downwardly converging walls for the said concavity, a plurality of leather cuttings placed in the said concavity within the said walls, a grid secured to the said shell at its edges and disposed over the said cuttings, said grid having peripherally' disposed notches, projections from the shell walls fitting into the said grid notches, said grid having nail receiving openings whereby nails passing downwardly through the bottom of a shoe may pass through the said openings into the said leather cuttings to secure the said heel shell to the bottom of the shoe, some of the said openings having inclined walls adapted to deflect nails striking the saidinclined walls.

5. In combination with a shoe heel, of a hollow shell for the said shoe heel, having an upper concavity, downwardly converging walls for the said concavity, a plurality of leather cuttings placed in the said concavity within the said walls, and a grid secured to the said shell at its edges and disposed over the said cuttings, said gridhaving nail receiving openings, nails passing downwardly through the bottom or a shoe adapted-to pass through the said openings into the said leather cuttings to secure the said heel shell to the bottom of the shoe, some of the said openings being positioned adjacent the downwardly converging walls of the said concavity to direct the .nails passing through the said openings against the said walls, whereby the said nails are deflected inwardly into the said leather cuttings by the said converging walls.

6. In combination with a shoe heel, of a hollow shell for the said shoe heel having an upper concavity, downwardly converging walls for the said concavity, a plurality of leather cuttings placed in the said concavity within the said walls, and a grid secured to the said shell at its edges and disposed over the said cuttings, said grid having nail receiving openings whereby nails passing downwardly through the bottom of a shoe may pass through the said openings into the said leather cuttings to secure the said heel shell to the bottom of the shoe, some of the said openings having inclined walls adapted to deflect nails striking the said inclined walls, the angle of inclination of different ones of the said grid opening walls being different.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 4th day of January, 1921.

' FRANK M. SLOUGrH. 

